Millennium Round-Up

New MORI research reveals that nearly three quarters of people in the UK believe Millennium Commission funded projects will benefit the area in which they live. Only 7% believe there will be no benefit. The research comes at the end of a momentous year of work by the Millennium Commission and its partners and which has seen both the culmination of six years of work, and with a wide range of exciting initiatives still to come.

The Millennium Commission has invested National Lottery funds in nearly 200 projects on over 3,000 sites across the UK, around 2,000 community festival events in 2000 and 13,000 Millennium Award winners who are using small grants for community projects. New Year's Eve will see spectacular celebrations in 32 towns and cities across the UK.

Millennium highlights so far include:

• Over 90 capital projects fully open including landmark developments. 35 projects have opened during 2000 including Tate Modern in London and The Lowry in Salford, and more to come in 2001.
• The transformation of derelict land the size of 2,000 football pitches into new community spaces through the Changing Places programme.
• Nearly 2 million trees planted in new woodlands across the UK.
• A million new books for schools.
• 5,000 miles of cycle paths creating a new transport infrastructure across the UK.
• A new generation of science centres bringing science and technology alive including The Big Idea in Irvine, The Millennium Seedbank in Sussex, at Bristol and Odyssey in Belfast.
• Nearly 600 village halls and urban centres providing new facilities for communities across the UK.
• Visitor figures indicating that most Millennium Commission projects are already nearly 50% ahead of their visitor targets including The Eden Project in Cornwall and the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
• The largest programme of year long celebrations ever mounted in the UK - the Millennium Festival - involving over 20 million people.
• 13,000 Millennium Award winners working on community projects including 5,200 new winners this year. A new independent social impact study has revealed the Award Scheme has already resulted in 12 million hours of community work.

Millennium Commission Chairman, Rt Hon Chris Smith MP said, "The year 2000 has been truly momentous. The Millennium Commission has made an unparalleled investment in a range of projects, festivals and people right across the UK. There has been something happening everywhere and something for everyone to enjoy. But Millennium Commission activities do not stop on New Year's Eve; there are still many exciting projects and Awards to come.

He continued, "The Millennium Commission is using Lottery money to make a real difference by revitalising our towns and cities, promoting science and technology, encouraging environmental sustainability, investing in education and supporting communities across the UK. This investment has already made a significant impact during the year, and will create a lasting legacy which will be felt for generations to come."

Millennium Commission projects scheduled to open in 2001 include: Millennium Point, a world class centre of technology and learning in Birmingham which will open in the Autumn; the Glasgow Science Centre combining science, education and entertainment due to open fully in the Spring; and The Odyssey Project in Belfast which will include a science centre, an arena, a pavilion and an IMAX cinema and will be fully open in the Spring. In addition, the Millennium Award Scheme will continue to hand out small grants to individuals. There will be around 40,000 Award winners by 2004.

Mike O'Connor, Director of the Commission, said, " I am glad that at the end of the year we have evidence that nearly three quarters of the population believe that Millennium Commission funding will benefit the area in which they live. It is, after all, their money that we are spending."

The Millennium Commission has produced a CD ROM which is designed to be a comprehensive record of how the UK marked the Millennium with the support of the National Lottery. The CD ROM will contain research information and features on Millennium Commission projects and activities across the UK. It will be distributed to libraries, schools, tourist agencies, regional development agencies and businesses across the UK. The Millennium Commission has also today published its Annual Report and Accounts for 1999 - 2000.

Technical details

1. The Millennium Commission is one of the good causes funded by the National Lottery.
2. The Millennium Commission is supporting:

• Around 200 new buildings, environmental projects and visitor attractions on over 3000 sites across the UK.
• A UK-wide programme of community festivals which began on New Year's Eve 1999 and will culminate on New Year's Eve 2000 celebrations in 32 towns and cities across the UK.
• Millennium Awards to individuals to put a bright idea into action for the benefit of their community. Further details available on 0800-06801 2000.
• The Millennium Experience at Greenwich and the National Programme.

Technical details

• Study carried out on behalf of the Millennium Commission.
• Telephone research was conducted among a random sample of 1,605 members of the public in four regions of the UK - Scotland (401 interviews), South West (400), North West (402) & East Midland (402).
• Fieldwork took place between 28th September and 13th October 2000
• The results are not strictly representative if the whole of the UK, but the four participating regions were selected to represent a cross section both geographically and in terms of the funding they receive i.e. it included the region which received the highest proportion of Millennium Commission grants (Scotland), and the area which received the least (East Midlands).

Copies of the Annual Report and Accounts are available from HMSO and extracts are available on the Commission's web site. A summary of the Annual Report is available from the Millennium Commission press office on 020-7880 2007.

Further details of the work of The Millennium Commission can be found at www.millennium.gov.uk

Details about Millennium Festivals is available at www.festival2000.co.uk and information about the Millennium Awards Fellowship is available at www.starpeople.org.uk